Paul Whitehouse has opened up about the 'very difficult' change he was forced to make after having three heart stents fitted in 2015, following a coronary heart disease diagnosis. The comedian discussed his health with friend Bob Mortimer during their series Mortimer & Whitehouse: Gone Fishing, repeats of which are currently airing on BBC Two.
In the third episode of the first season, the pair were in Derbyshire, where Paul was teaching Bob how to fly-fish for wild rainbow trout. During their trip, Paul explained how the stents worked: "Some sort of very high-tech, futuristic kind of steel sleeve. They put it in, blow it up, leave it. Get on with it. Let this man carry on delighting millions."
Diet change after stents
When Bob asked what had to change after the procedure, Paul admitted: "What had to change, obviously, is diet. But it's very difficult to resist a mini chocolate doughnut, for example, isn't it?"
Bob observed that while stents do not require any maintenance, they may need to be replaced. Paul joked: "I think they are going to outlast me. Like I bought a sofa recently that's probably going to outlast me, Bob. And I like to think my stents aren't going to be the cause of my demise, you know?"
Heart-healthy meals
In a humorous moment at the start of the episode, Bob played solemn music on his laptop while Paul took his medication, including blood pressure tablets, blood thinners and statins. The pair also discussed their diet changes, with Bob preparing "heart-friendly" meals for them, including tuna and tinned potatoes.
Bob himself underwent an emergency triple heart bypass in October 2015 after discovering that 95% of his arteries were blocked. When first presented with the food, Paul joked it would be "tasteless", with Bob defending himself: "No, it's on the dreary side of tasty." Paul grimaced whilst tasting the dish but was grateful it had been cooked "with love".
Bob joked: "It's heart-healthy to an extent, because we have got tinned potatoes, basically with the same nutritional value as paper. Tuna has got a tiny amount of saturated fat."
Painful episode
Towards the end of the episode, Bob suffered a painful health episode when preparing the evening meal, which consisted of chestnuts, dates, savoy cabbage and venison. Explaining the meal, Bob said: "The reason is, the chestnuts and the dates are one of those foods that actually take cholesterol from your body."
He went to lift a pan full of cabbage from the hob when he suddenly dropped to the floor, shouting. While Paul thought he had burnt himself, Bob cried out: "No, it's not, it's my shoulder," before falling to the ground in pain. Once he had recovered, Bob explained: "I have got some sort of fibrosis, it was described to me, otherwise known as Frozen Shoulder."
The episode of Mortimer & Whitehouse: Gone Fishing airs tonight on BBC Two at 10pm.
